The fabrication of a composite part may involve the lamination of multiple plies or layers of fiber-reinforced polymer matrix material. Each layer may be formed of unidirectional fibers. The fibers may be pre-impregnated with resin (e.g., prepreg) to simplify the manufacturing process. The fibers in each layer of a composite part may be oriented at a specific angle relative to the fiber orientation in other layers as a means to optimize the strength and stiffness properties of the composite part. Unidirectional prepreg is available in 0° material rolls wherein a majority of the fibers are oriented parallel to the lengthwise direction of the material. 0° material rolls may be available in different widths for use in automated layup equipment. For example, 0° prepreg tape may be provided in widths of up to 12 inches or more for use in an automated tape laying (ATL) machine.
For manufacturing composite parts of certain geometries, it may be desirable to lay up unidirectional prepreg tape having fibers that are oriented non-parallel or off-axis relative to the lengthwise direction of the material. The use of 0° prepreg tape to layup cross plies (e.g., 45° plies, 90° plies, etc.) of a relatively long and narrow-width composite part may require that an ATL machine traverses the part numerous times as the cross-ply is laid up along the length of the part. Unfortunately, the numerous stops and starts required of the ATL machine for laying a cross ply on a long and narrow-width part increases the amount of time required to complete the layup process.
In an attempt to reduce the amount of time required for laying up cross plies of unidirectional prepreg, rolls of off-axis unidirectional prepreg material have been manufactured. However, current methods for manufacturing off-axis unidirectional prepreg are time-consuming and require highly-skilled labor to achieve the required levels of quality in a roll of off-axis prepreg material. In addition, the output rates for manufacturing off-axis unidirectional prepreg material using conventional methods may be lower than the output rates that are required to provide a sufficient volume of material to support automated layup.
As can be seen, there exists a need in the art for a system and method for manufacturing off-axis unidirectional prepreg material at a high production rate and with a high degree of quality.